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Coiiipliiiiriits of til f Author 

THE RE-INTERMENT OF 
MAJOR PIERRE CHARLES L'ENFANT 

REPORT MADE TO 

THE COLUMBIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

May II, iQog 

ALSO 

PRESENTATION OF GAVEL TO THE SOCIETY 

November q, igog 



BY 

JAMES DUDLEY MORGAN 

President of the Society 



Reprinted from the Records of the Cohmibia Historical Society 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
March, 1910 



THE RE-INTERMENT OF 
MAJOR PIERRE CHARLES L'ENf ANT 

REPORT MADE TO 

THE COLUMBIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

May II, 1909 

ALSO 

PRESENTATION OF GAVEL TO THE SuCIETY 
November 9, 1909 



BY 

JAMES DUDLEY MORGAN 

President of the Society 



Reprinted from the Records of the Columbia Historical Society 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
March, 1910 



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Copyright, 1910 
By JAMES DUDLEY MORGAN 

A 



Press of 

The New Era Printing company 

Lancaster. Pa 



J 



[Reprinted from Records of the Columbia Historical Society, 
Vol. XIII, 1910] 



THE REINTERMENT OF MAJOR PIERRE 
CHARLES L'ENFANT. 

By JAMES DUDLEY MOKGAN, M.D. 

(Eeport made to the Society, May 11, 1909.) 

The Sundry Civil bill of 1908, contained a small 
clause which read as follows : 

"One thousand dollare is made available for the Commis- 
sioners of the District of Columbia to remove and render ac- 
cessible to the public the grave of Major Pierre Charles 
L 'Enfant." 

Congressional action had been sought many times to 
properly mark the grave of L 'Enfant and erect a monu- 
ment in the capital city; after many fruitless efforts, 
it was only last year that the members of the Columbia 
Historical Society, and a few others interested, were 
able to secure an appropriation ; and thus a most fitting 
and glorious testimonial was given to L 'Enfant 's 
genius and patriotism on Wednesday, April 28, 1909. 

On April 22, 1909, Commissioner Henry B. F. Mac- 
farland. Dr. James Dudley Morgan, a grandson of Wil- 
liam Dudley Digges who befriended L 'Enfant, and on 
whose estate "Green Hill" in Prince George County, 
Maryland, L 'Enfant was buried. Dr. William Tindall, 
secretary to the commissioners, Mr. George Howard, 
a grandson of George Riggs, the present owner of 
"Green Hill," drove out to the grave of L 'Enfant, ar- 
rangements having been previously made with the 
Quartermaster General's Department of the United 
States Army to exhume the body on that day after the 
location of the grave had been designated by Dr. 
Morgan. 

119 



I20 Records of the Columbia Historical Society. 

It was a lonely and unmarked grave more than six 
feet in length. A graceful, red cedar, drawing its vig- 
orous life from the very earth which enveloped the 
ashes of the neglected Frenchman, his sole monument 
for eighty-four years, swaying and whispering with 
every breeze, carried the inspiration of his genius into 
never-ending requiem, while its pungent odor served as 
perpetual incense. '^Nature, more generous than man, 
had drawn over the lonely mound a mantle of myrtle, 
like a pall of perennial green," 

The work of exhuming the body was done under the 
direction of D. H. Ehodes, of the Quartermaster Gen- 
eral's Department, and of the Commissioners of the 
District of Columbia. The tall, slender tree which 
marked the spot where the Franco-American lay, and 
which had been planted at the head of the grave at the 
time the body was buried, June 14, 1825, had first to 
be carefully cut down before the work of transferring 
the body to a hermetically sealed casket could be begun. 
A thunder storm interrupted the operations for twenty 
minutes after the ground had been broken, then the 
digging of the grave was continued, in silence, for an 
hour or more. A straight line of black earth, in sharp 
contrast to the yellow clay the spades had brought up 
so far, was found at the depth of about four-and-a-half 
feet. Then the shovel was used carefully, the object 
being to trace out the line of black earth. As the dirt 
was cautiously removed, the outlines of the coffin be- 
came discernible. The shape was so marked as to prove 
to onlookers that the resting place of Major L 'Enfant 
had been found. As the party stood with uncovered 
heads around the excavation, the transfer of the re- 
mains of the famous engineer was begun. A cardinal 
bird, sitting in a near-bj^ tree, sang almost continuously 
during the work at the grave. Following the sealing 



Morgan: Reinterment of Major L'Enfant. i2i 

of the casket, it was wrapped in "Old Glory" and con- 
veyed to the receiving vault at Mount Olivet Cemetery 
where it lay until the morning of April 28, when it was 
taken, under military escort detailed from the Second 
Battalion, Corps of Engineers, Captain Michael J. Mc- 
Donough, commanding, to the rotunda of the capitol, 
where it lay in state from nine until twelve o'clock. 

On that day, L 'Enfant, who drew the plans for our 
city, was honored by the nation he had served. 

"Thousands who never heard the Frenchman's name, thou- 
sands who have praised the broad avenues of the Capital 
City, yet knew not whose hand designed them or in whose 
brain the scheme of the city was born, learned that the name 
of L 'Enfant had been blazoned at the top of the roll on which 
are graven those illustrious names whose memory will last 
as long as the beautiful city with which they are linked. ' ' 

The long years of obscurity and lack of appreciation 
which shrouded the fame of the Revolutionary hero 
and gifted architect, were rolled away in the Capitol 
Rotunda, as the Ambassador from France, the Vice- 
President of the United States and the President of the 
District Commissioners paid each his glowing tribute 
to him who may be truthfully called the Father of the 
City of Washington. And when the thousands had 
passed around the catafalque on which reposed the 
casket, draped in the American flag— patriotic men 
and women, school children who, perhaps, had never 
seen the name of L 'Enfant on history's page— the 
great casket was lifted by eight sturdy sergeants of the 
Engineer Corps and borne to the caisson of an artil- 
lery gun, and the long-delayed triumphal march which 
should have been L'Enfant's nearly a century ago, was 
begun to Arlington. 

L'Enfant's membership in the Cincinnati, for which 
so'^iety he designed the badge and the certificate, was 



122 Records of the Columbia Histurical Society. 

emphasized by two incidents. As the President of the 
United States entered the rotunda, the blue and silver 
banner of the society was raised and lowered. After 
the addresses in the rotunda, Senator A. 0. Bacon, of 
Georgia, inquired of Chairman ^Macfarland whether 
any insignia or emblem of the society had been placed 
upon the casket. Mr. Macfarland replied that there 
had not been. Senator Bacon then took from the lapel 
of his coat the badge of the Cincinnati which he was 
wearing and handing it to Mr. Macfarland requested 
him to deposit it in the grave with the remains. This 
commission Chairman Macfarland executed just be- 
fore the grave was closed. 

The funeral procession was nearly a mile long and 
most impressive. The streets were lined with specta- 
tors, flags were displayed at half mast, and as the 
cortege~"passed the rooms of the Veteran Volimteer 
Firemen's Association, their bell tolled solemnly. 
Even this bell has had a varied history. Cast in 1856, 
for the Northern Liberties Fire Company, it sent out 
its grim warning until 1864, when the fire alarm went 
into service. The bell w^as then lent to Saint Theresa's 
Eoman Catholic Church of Anacostia and for years 
called that congregation to prayer and praise. Finally 
in 1895, it was loaned to its present custodians and 
since then has paid its tribute of respect to many noted 
ones among the nation's dead. 

In the National Cemetery at Arlington the grave was 
surrounded by the foremost men of the capital. AVith 
bowed heads and lowered eyes they stood while the 
Reverend William T. Kussell, pastor of Saint Patrick's 
Church, celebrated the offices of the Church, assisted by 
James Maloney and Sheldon Fleishell as acolytes. 
Following the prayers, Father Russell made this brief 
address : 



Morgan: Reinterment of Major U Enfant. 123 

"The State represented by the highest officials of our 
country and of the District of Columbia having paid its trib- 
ute of respect and gratitude to the genius of L 'Enfant it is 
meet that the Church of which he was a member during life 
should perform her last offices of affection for his memory and 
of supplication in behalf of his soul. Our national capital is 
enriched with monuments to the glorious memory of the heroic 
souls — Lafayette and Rochambeau — -who contributed so gen- 
erously to the achievement of our independence. Tardy have 
we been in acknowledging our debt of gratitude to him who 
planned, the 'City Beautiful.' But at length we have 
awakened to a sense of justice to him, and to the land which 
gave him birth. France — Catholic France — was our only ally, 
when we most needed friends. But for the ready financial 
aid with which Catholic France replenished our exhausted 
treasury, whereby our patriots were persuaded to keep the 
field, and but for the timely aid of Rochambeau and de 
Grasse — it may well be questioned how long our independence 
would have been deferred. 

' ' This ceremony today reflects credit on the nation which thus 
speaks its gratitude, and honor on Catholic France and her 
heroes, who so rightly deserve it. L 'Enfant needs no monu- 
ment of marble or of bronze. The City Beautiful at his feet 
is the proudest and most endearing monument we can erect 
to his memory. 

"But we come not to praise L 'Enfant. He is beyond our 
power of praise. We come to pray for him, that his good 
works and our prayers may ascend to heaven as the odor of 
sweet incense before the throne of justice and mercy, and to 
bless his remains which we trust will rise to a glorious resur- 
rection. 

"May God grant to him who planned and dreamed the City 
Beautiful before us, an abode in the new Jerusalem the Celes- 
tial City Beautiful." 

A moment of absolute silence, then three volleys 
were fired by a detachment of the Engineer Corps and 
Principal Musician, George A. Wintermyer, of the 



124 Records of the Columbia Historical Society. 

Engineer Band, sounded ''taps"— a soldier's burial— 
a fitting- climax to the long-delayed honor which that 
day was paid to L 'Enfant. 

Grant me a few minutes to recall some of the many 
glowing tributes paid to his genius and his faith in the 
glorious future of his adopted country. He "fore- 
casted the future." He laid out a city for ''fifty states 
instead of thirteen. ' ' He could ' ' imagine things a cen- 
tury before they happened. ' ' Like many of his kind, he 
was "dead long before his dream came true." His 
"services were not for one generation merely, but for 
all time ; neither were they for the United States alone ; 
the whole world may enjoy the beauties of Washington 
and delight in its charms as one of the greatest national 
capitals. " " That L 'Enf ant 's mind evolved the general 
plan of the present Washington," said Vice-President 
Sherman, "seems beyond the possibility of dispute." 
There was no question regarding his "ability or his 
taste. These plans which are now universally praised, 
were laughed at, derided and set aside as being too ex- 
pensive and too ambitious, at the time they were made ; 
but it is to L 'Enfant 's adherence to his original idea 
and his belief in the future greatness of this country, 
that the beauty of this city is due." "To plan this 
city," said Ambassador Jusserand in his address, 
"Washington selected a French officer, whose qualities 
of character and faults of temper, he had for thirteen 
years many occasions to appreciate; gifted, plucky, 
energetic, but difficult to handle." 

Without the aid and backing which the Columbia 
Historical Society gave and secured, the remains of 
L 'Enfant would not rest in Arlington today. The sug- 
gestion of the use of the rotunda of the United States 
Capitol was made to your president some months ago 



Morgan: Reinterment of Major UEnfant. 125 

by two members of this Society, each unconscious until 
this reading, that the other had the same idea. 

It was to Mrs. Madison A. Ballinger and to Mrs. 
Charles W. Richardson that the appropriateness of the 
use of the rotunda came. A bereavement in the family 
of Mrs. Eichardson prevented her taking an active part, 
and it was to Mrs. Ballinger and her husband that we 
owe the largest part of the success of having secured 
the capitol for the funeral services. There were many 
who cooperated and did valiant work; perhaps the 
names of Messrs. S. C. Neale, W. W. Abell, M. M. 
Parker, Representative Samuel W. Smith, Senator Isa- 
dor Rayner and Senator A. 0. Bacon, stand out most 
prominently. 

To but seven others had this honor of lying in state 
in the rotunda been accorded and each of the others was 
a native-born citizen: 

Abraham Lincoln, April 19 to 21, 1865. 

Thaddeus Stevens, August 13, 1868. 

Salmon P. Chase, May -, 1873. 

Charles Sumner, March — , 1874. 

James A. Garfield, September 21 to 23, 1881. 

John A. Logan, December 30, 1886. 

William McKinley, September 17, 1901. 

Pierre Charles L 'Enfant, April 28, 1909. 



PRESENTATION OF GAVEL TO THE COLUM- 
BIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

By dr. JAMES DUDLEY MORGAN, President, 
November 9, 1909. 

This gavel, made from the root of the red cedar tree 
which marked the grave for nearly a century of that 
genius and patriot, Pierre Charles L 'Enfant, is pre- 
sented to the Columbia Historical Society. It is pecu- 
liarly appropriate that a society which has worked so 
unceasingly and zealously for justice to and recogni- 
tion of a genius who gave up country, home and friends 
for our cause, should receive as a relic and memento, 
the heart and root of the cedar tree, which has for 
generations stood as his only headstone. Erect, ever 
green, now resting, now sighing with the winds, its 
growth and strength came from his very ashes ; it stood 
as a sentinel, a constant reminder, as a link with the 
past. 

Today L 'Enfant rests in historic Arlington; an 
honored grave and pomp are his. And the cedar tree 
has fallen, but from its trunk and veins this gavel 
has been made for you. 

The eternal laws of compensation in the end work 
out all things aright and the "mills of the gods" 
though slow, ofttimes grind exceeding sure. 

With this gavel is also presented the correspondence, 
clippings and illustrations incident to the life of L 'En- 
fant and the removal of his remains from Green Hill 
to the rotunda of the United States Capitol and thence 
to Arlington National Cemetery. 



162 



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